Of Awkward Crushes and Scheming Kage
by artlessICTOAN
Summary: Matsuri is uncomfortable enough being stuck at a formal party celebrating Naruto's inauguration, the stunning woman with pale eyes who makes her feel fuzzy and awkward really isn't helping matters. At least, until she is. HinaMatsu, NaruGaa
She was beginning to wonder if agreeing to come hadn't been a mistake. Of course there was no force on Earth that could stop Gaara from going to Naruto's inauguration as Hokage and as part of his personal guard Matsuri was required to be here too – not that she wasn't happy to visit Konoha – but amongst all these important diplomats, war heroes and close-knit friends she felt very self-conscious, like anything she said could reflect poorly on herself, Gaara and all of Suna.

She tugged at the collar of her kimono, she wasn't used to being dressed so formally, she'd much rather be back home right now, wearing her comfortable and practical shinobi uniform and not worried she'd offend someone if she _breathed_ wrong.

There was only one thing, besides seeing her one of her closest friends so happy that he was almost glowing with pride, which kept her somewhat sane. The entrancing beauty she'd been looking out for all night.

Even in the loud, echoing space, dimly lit by a sparkling array of lanterns and candles and crowded with people of every nation garbed in all manners of finery, _she_ stood out.

She wasn't the most gaudily dressed – nobody could ever hope to compete with Naruto's eye-searing orange – in fact she was rather subdued compared to most of the other people in the room, but she just seemed to exude a subtle elegance and delicacy that drew the eye. Her long, midnight black hair looked like it must feel silken to the touch, her skin seemed to soak in the bright colours from around her and reflect them back, softer and less garish, her lavender kimono was crisp and she wore it effortlessly, not looking uncomfortable in the slightest – which was amazing considering how out of place and awkward Matsuri was feeling in hers – and her eyes! She'd never seen such pale jewel-like eyes before, with those long sweeping lashes framing them so perfectly…

"Would you like me to introduce you?"

The sudden voice next to her almost made her scream and she definitely jumped.

Gaara gave her his signature small but genuine smile, though Matsuri was sure she could see a touch of bemusement in his expression too.

"Uhm, I'm sorry, who..."

"Hyuuga-san, you've been staring at her for some time now."

"No!" She cleared her throat hoping to remove that awful squeak from her voice. "I mean, no, thank you. Gaara-sama." She coughed again, her cheeks were burning, but the fact that it was _only_ Gaara who'd noticed her ogling was at least mildly comforting.

Her Kazekage frowned lightly, "I know this is a formal event, but you never have to stand on ceremony around me Matsuri, just Gaara, please."

"Oh, yes, sorry Gaara. Old habits and all that," she let out a small sigh and turned back to where the Hyuuga had last been seen, she was talking politely to one of the Iwa emissaries, probably having an important discussion about some complex issues that Matsuri would feel out of her depth joining in on.

The redhead beside her gave her a thoughtful look, but didn't comment further on her reluctance to talk to the beautiful woman she'd been watching all night. If there was one thing she appreciated most about her friend it was that he knew when to drop an uncomfortable subject.

"Well then, how about we go outside for a while? I don't know about you, but for me it's getting rather overwhelming in here."

And there was another thing she loved about him, he was one of the few people she knew who understood how exhausting social situations were for her, in all honesty he probably had a harder time than she did. Matsuri smiled at him and surreptitiously squeezed his hand. "Yeah, that sounds nice, let's go."

Leaving the packed hall was almost as extreme a change as the one from the scorching desert days to the chilling nights, she suddenly felt the need to take deep gulping breaths of the refreshing air, the mild, sweet scents of Konoha's abundant plant life soothing her and the soft glow of the moon and stars were far less harsh on her eyes.

The gardens of the Hokage's residence were surprisingly empty, but given that their reason for coming out here was to get away from people in the first place she wasn't going to complain, she simply followed Gaara to a bench in an isolated corner, partially hidden the hanging branches of a grand willow tree.

The two old friends just settled down to enjoy each other's company, this was a tradition for them, neither one felt any need to speak and they were both more than comfortable with silence, they were simply looking for a few moments to themselves to recharge before venturing back into the gruelling battleground that was conversation.

Her thoughts drifted back to the dark-haired beauty, Hyuuga Hinata wasn't someone she knew much about, she'd heard some war stories and Temari had always said good things about her whenever she returned from a diplomatic assembly in the area. She also had some vague memories of the quiet but determined girl with short hair and pale eyes who'd been involved in her rescue so many years ago, but she'd been too exhausted and worried about Gaara at the time to introduce herself.

Maybe that was a good thing, the heiress of the powerful Hyuuga clan was just far too influential and high-ranking to ever be interested in a simple chunin from Suna, let alone one who was also a woman.

Matsuri sighed again, Gaara turned to look at her and opened his mouth, probably ready to start drilling her on what was wrong, though she never got to hear what he was planning to say.

"Gaara! So this is where you were hiding, I've been looking for you everywhere," Naruto said, pulling the fronds of the willow tree back to reveal his bright grin.

"Sorry for leaving unannounced, we just needed to take a short break."

"Nah, I get it, though… Matsuri-chan, do you mind if I steal him for a bit?" The blonds pleading eyes were impossible to resist and Gaara, even if he looked like he still wanted to talk to her, well… the desperate longing to spend some alone time with his lover was written all over his face.

She smiled gently and patted her friends hand lightly. "Of course not, I think I'll just stay here a little while longer before heading back in. You two go have some fun." She couldn't resist adding the teasing tone to her voice at her last comment, as expected the innuendo flew right over the Kazekage's head, Naruto's blush and nervous chuckle made it worth it though.

"Thanks, c'mon Gaara, it's been so hectic these last few days we haven't really had a chance to catch up…" Matsuri idly listened to their voices fading as they walked back into the building, she was happy that the two had found each other. Their relationship was technically classified – neither were ready to deal with the "political shitstorm" (as Temari had so eloquently put it) that would inevitably rise from two leaders of the five great shinobi nations revealing that they'd been together for the last five years – but as one of his closest friends she'd been one of the lucky few let in on the secret.

Seeing them so happy gave her some hope though, Naruto would undoubtedly find some way to talk around any council members or politicians who might object to the pairing, he'd managed more incredible feats, and Gaara had been subtly laying the groundwork for change for almost a decade now, she had no doubt that the two would do great things and live a perfect happy life together.

If only she could be so lucky to have found _the one_ like they had.

She groaned and lay down on her side, maybe she could just fall asleep here, no one was going to notice her missing at the party and she'd only find it stressful going back into such a formal environment.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realise anyone else would be out here." The soft voice broke her from her wallowing, she must've been really out of it to not notice someone approaching.

Matsuri quickly righted herself and tried ineffectively to straighten her kimono before she even looked to see who'd stumbled upon her, when she did her, already healthy, blush darkened and she ran a desperate hand through her hair too.

"No, no I'm sorry, I-um… I was just a little tired and um, I'm sorry," she said, her voice shaking horribly.

Hinata looked a little surprised but then smiled. "No, _I'm_ sorry for disturbing you, I could go if you-

"No!" Well that was embarrassing, she thought. "I mean, no you don't have to leave, it's not like I own this bench. I should probably leave, I'm sorry, again."

There was an unbearably awkward moment where the two were just staring at each other, both varying shades of red and looking ready to flee at any second, then Hinata started to laugh.

The sound was so sweet that it stole Matsuri's breath but she quickly joined her, already the uncomfortable tension was fading and she started to relax a little.

"How about this, we'll both stay and both stop apologising to each other, how does that sound?"

She let out a shaky sigh of relief. "I'd like that, um, I'm Matsuri by the way, and you're Hyuuga Hinata, right?"

"Yes, I've heard about you from Gaara-san and Naruto-kun, they both think quite highly of you."

"Really? Wow, that's, really cool. Temari's told me about you too, I was kinda hoping to meet you actually, though, I hadn't quite imagined it happening like this." She almost wanted to slap herself for that comment, as if she hadn't already made a big enough fool of herself.

"Well it's not a meeting I'll be forgetting any time soon…" Was it just her imagination or was the heiress blushing darker than she was a second ago? "I mean, I've met so many new people today, but this is a nice change from talking to those dry bureaucrats about the current economic climate. To be honest that's why I'm out here, I just wanted to get away from it all for a few minutes to breathe."

Matsuri fully turned to her and grinned. "Really? Me too! I was just so terrified I was going to accidentally say the wrong thing to the wrong person, I'm already so bad at talking to people and everyone here is either really important or already such close friends that I'd just feel like I was intruding if I tried to join in on their conversations-" her rant was cut short when a pale hand was suddenly sliding through her hair, as it pulled back she noted the leaf it was now holding.

"Sorry, I just, um..." Hinata trailed off, dropping the leaf to the grass beside them, "your hair is very soft Matsuri-chan"

Her blush came back full force, the compliment combined with the familiar honorific too much for her poor brain to handle. "Thank you! Yours too, well it looks like it is, I haven't actually touched it."

There was another long moment where they both gawked at each other before they both started laughing in unison.

"We're not very good at this are we?" Hinata giggled, lightly placing her hand atop Matsuri's on the bench seat between them.

"Not really, but-" she turned her hand to ever so gently squeeze the paler one above it, "at least we're having fun with it, right?"

The smile she received was one she would burn into her memory forever. "Yes, we are."

"I can't believe that actually worked." The redhead turned to his lover, standing next to him on the balcony overlooking the garden, soft laughter drifting up towards them.

"You doubt the plans of the great Uzumaki Naruto, Nanadaime Hokage?"

"Telling Hinata-san she should go outside to get some air wasn't much of a plan." Gaara shook his head but couldn't keep the tiny smile from his face, he turned around and grabbed the blond's hand, pulling him inside. "Come on, Hokage-sama, I think they can handle it from here without us interfering."

Well… at least for now.


End file.
